Mu‘tezile’nin Nübüvvet Savunması

Revelation and prophethood have an important place in the religion of Islam. Since Muslims attach importance to God’s orders and prohibitions, they also attribute holiness to the prophets who conveyed these orders and prohibitions to people. However, throughout history, there have been those who criticize prophethood from various perspectives. The origin of thought, which rejects prophecy, is generally based on Aristotle. However, there are also movements in which this thought emerges systematically. Barahima and Sumeniyya, which are considered to be of Indian origin according to the general opinion, are the leading ones. In addition to movements such as Barahima and Sumaniyya, Abū Isa al-Varrak (d. 247/861), his student Ibn al-Rawandī (d. 301/913) and Abū Bakr al-Razī (d. 313/913), known as a physician-philosopher, with their thoughts rejecting prophethood, have managed to remain on popular in certain periods of history. They objected not only prophethood but also the prophethood of the Hz. Mohammed, the thought of “Khatm Al-Nubuwwa” and the Qur’an. In the recent period, it is seen that movements such as deism and positivism continue the thoughts of the aforementioned denialist groups. Wise men such as Jāhiz (d. 255/869) and al-Qādī Abd al-Jabbār (d. 415/1025) from the Mu’tazila defended the prophethood by responding to such objections and criticisms during their lifetime. In this study, first of all, prophethood, the currents and people who objected to the prophethood of the Hazrat Muhammed, the thought of “Khatm Al-Nubuwwa” and the i’jaz of the Qur’ān were introduced, and their claims were put forward. Then, the answers given by the Mu’tazila to these objections were evaluated and evaluated. As a result, it has been seen that the claims put forward by Barahima, Sumaniyya, Abū Isa al-Varraq, Ibn al-Rawandī, and Abū Bakr al-Razī are similar to the ideas of current movements such as deism and positivism on prophecy. In this sense, it can be said that the defense of prophecy made by the Mu’tazila is valuable, especially in a character that reduces the doubts that come to mind with the thought of deism and sheds light on the present. In this respect, the aforementioned study, it is aimed to eliminate the ideas of deism, which reject the prophethood, revelation, and the holy in the context of god-human relationship through Mu’tazila. In our opinion, in order to be able to give reasonable answers to today’s denialist movements and to eliminate their objections, it is necessary to know well the Mu’tazila theology and their responses to the atheists who existed in their own time, as well as the Ahl as-Sunnah theology. Looking at the issue from a historical sense, it is seen that the aforementioned denial thought was also put forward in the previous periods of history but was eliminated by the theologians of those periods. Therefore, it can be said that the idea of ​​deism is not a new movement but has always been against the phenomenon of religion by changing clothes in certain periods of history.